This Second Street storefront was the site of By Laurie for years. After Laurie Cirone moved her business to Oak Harbor, the space was left vacant.

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Catharine Hadley

Staff writer

One of the most prominent vacant spaces is a relatively recent additions to available store fronts. Dean's old location, more than 10,000 square feet on Madison Street, has been vacant since last year. / James Proffitt / News Herald

This store front, at the corner of Madison and Second streets, has been vacant for about three years. The building went up for auction in 2012, but did not sell. / James Proffitt / News Herald

This Second Street business has been vacant for about two years. Plans for a new restaurant fell through in 2012. / James Proffitt/News Herald

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PORT CLINTON — Empty storefronts are the bane of a thriving downtown, as are buildings that are on the market for years without being sold.

Realtors, business owners and others are working to make the downtown area an epicenter of activity, but they face many challenges.

A property with potential

One of those properties is commonly called the “Oddfellows building,” on the west side of the 100 block of Madison Street where Cruisin’ Tunes Tropical Gifts & Resort Wear is located.

Jeff Morgan of Real Living Morgan Realty Group, who has the listing, said the price was originally $399,000, but is now $290,000.

“You’ve got close to 6,500 square foot of floor, and that’s a lot of building. The upper floors would lend themselves perfectly to condominiums, downtown living loft space — really tall ceilings, great architecture,” Morgan said.

That building has been on the market since 2008.

Community support

Len Partin of Jack Bradley Realty has the listing for 117 Madison St., which was formerly the Big Sky Saloon.

The price for the building, which includes a liquor license, furniture and fixtures, is now $279,000.

“Originally we were asking $565,000,” Partin said.

Buyer skepticism and lack of community involvement and support have been roadblocks.

“I’ve had a good 12 to 15 people look at it and I’ve had all kinds of praise for the property, what the owner has done to it, the quality of the property,” he said. “It’s hard for them to make the commitment to purchase … We’ve had a number of people wanting to lease it, because they don’t have confidence in downtown.”

Partin added the difficulty in being approved for a commercial loan creates difficulties for potential buyers.

That property has been on the market for more than two years.

Size is an issue

Partin also has the listing for the former Dean’s store, which has been on the market for nearly four months.

“That’s 10,000 square feet, and I’ve gotten a number of inquiries for leasing it, not particularly for buying it, and I’ve probably only had a half a dozen inquiries on that,” he said. “Really the feedback to date is that it’s too large … For a start-up, it’s too big and people who are already in business are hunkering down with what they already have.”

The asking price is $229,000. The cost to lease the building is about $2,700 per month.

Partin said the economic climate just isn’t right for most business owners to make that sort of investment.

Appearance counts

A common complaint about downtown businesses is that the building owners are not conscientious about the exterior appearances.

Kent Johnson, the city’s zoning inspector and fire chief, deals with those complaints on a regular basis.

“Blatant safety issues” are handled immediately, he said.

The city has an exterior maintenance code, but the process of enforcing it takes several months before the case could go to municipal court.

Johnson said that has never happened, because the property owners have worked with him before the process got that far. The code has a drawback.

“The key to enforcing it is they have to have money to fix it,” he said.

If a property owner has no money to fix the building, he or she likely doesn’t have money for fines.

He prefers to start the process with a private conversation. “We work with the people to try to get the businesses, the facades and things repaired. We have a lot of people who do work with us, that have worked with us as long as they have the funds available to do that,” Johnson said.

Some businesses are looking to rent

Morgan also is working with the owners of the building at 117 E. Second St., which is across the street from Underwood’s. “I am working on finding a person to occupy that for the sellers. It’s not for sale yet,” he said.

The former tenants, who ended up not opening a business, had changed the interior of the first floor. “It’s been gutted, so obviously the biggest challenge here is someone would have to do a complete rebuild on it. It would still be a great retail space,” Morgan said.

Laura Schlachter, the program manager for Main Street Port Clinton and the president of the Port Clinton Area Chamber of Commerce, said rent can be an issue.

“Some of the rents of some of our buildings are a little higher than you would anticipate being in a historic downtown. A lot of the businesses that are looking to be downtown are start-up businesses, entrepreneurs,” Schlachter said.

“Those first five years are so critical, so if we could have lower rents, I think it would definitely overcome some of the challenges.”

Schlachter did say she planned to meet with business owners, and hopes to see more downtown storefronts occupied soon.

Some good news

All four people interviewed for this story commented on the proposal by Mike Rose, who has developments in Wooster and Medina, to build in Water Works Park.

“That’s really opened up a lot of people to see that. The city is excited,” Schlachter said.

“No one person or individual building can make a difference. That’s why I was fairly excited,” Partin said. He has been unabashed about his desire to see local residents and elected officials move forward to bring development to the city.

“There’s no easy answer for downtown because there’s no draw, unfortunately. The bandwagon Mr. Rose was trying to lead was a phenomenal idea and concept, the boardwalk downtown, it needs that,” he said.

Morgan said the tide might be turning for business activity in the downtown area.